What Would Happen If
by RenKain
Summary: It could have been just a dream, I'm still not really sure. All I know is, it was one wild ride... OC and Straw Hats, hypothetical scenario. Who's idea was this, anyway?
1. Chapter 1

I know a lot of people have already done stories like this, the whole 'what if I was sucked into the One Piece Universe' stories. Personally, I don't think it would be as adventurous as some of them sound. I think it would be traumatizing.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Narnia (brief mentioning here) and make no profit from this story.

Warnings: My own foul language.

Description: It could have all been just a dream, I'm still not really sure. All I know is, it was one hell of a ride…

Go ahead, tell me what you think. It will probably end up being a multi-chapter fic, either way.

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><p>So there I was, sitting in a chair in front of my TV and minding my own business, when I had the most peculiar feeling. It was gradual, a slight tingling just below my sternum. I ignored it, of course, but instead of disappearing, the feeling became stronger. It spread out to my shoulders, down my legs, wrapping my entire body in a strange, prickly sensation. Finally, I started to get a little worried about my current health and stood from the chair.<p>

That was the last I remember of being in my own world that day.

When I fell, I fell hard. Hit a couple of what felt like wooden boxes on the way, too. A quick, sharp pain in my left forearm and I slammed into the ground, landing on my side with a loud thud.

"Ow," I complained. Damn, that hurt.

After pushing myself into a sitting position and moving my dark and unruly hair out of my eyes I looked around, confused. The fall from the chair shouldn't have been that long. Or painful. One disbelieving assessment later I quickly closed my eyes and shook my head furiously. There was no way…

I was in a room lined with planks, the walls curving just a little on the sides. And the floor was moving steadily in a shallow, rocking motion. Disorganized rows of crates lined the perimeter and stacked up as far as the ceiling, miscellaneous objects, such as strips of cloth and worn paper, spilling out of the open tops. A few round, dirty windows at the top of the walls were the only source of light.

I staggered to my feet, feeling the burning pain in my arm again. Looking down, I was far from surprised at seeing a shallow gash running down the inside of my forearm, rivulets of blood pooling at my wrist to drip to the floor. This was a problem, I decided, and I might have to do something about that. My brain seemed to think that dealing with the smaller issues first was the best way to handle my current situation without shutting down completely, so I focused on my arm.

I took off my button-down black and white shirt and wrapped it hastily around the cut, leaving my upper half in just a plain white tank top. For once I was grateful of how thick my hair was as several curls sat gently on my bare shoulders, keeping me warm in the cold room. I had to get out of here, wherever 'here' was. Spotting a door at the far end of the room I practically ran for it, ignoring the slight twinge in the hip I had not so delicately landed on. Just as I was reaching for the handle it swung inward, barely missing my nose. I back-pedaled, tripped over my own feet, and landed hard on my tailbone. "What the hell?"

"Aah! Whoever you are I'm not afraid of you! Just try something, you dirty monster, I'll hack you into pieces!"

I could hear a shrill, panicked voice, but couldn't see where it was coming from at first. Dropping my gaze I gasped and pushed myself back even further. "Holy shit!"

A short brown creature, standing on it's hind legs and sporting a tall pink hat, was waving it's arms frantically at me and talking. _Talking_. I began to feel a little dizzy at that point, and not just from the rocking of, what I had now guessed was, the ship. Where the hell was I anyway? Narnia?

"Go on," the creature continued as it hopped sideways, behind the doorframe, and peeked out. "I'm not afraid of you! Coward!" Small, round eyes glared at me and a blue nose twitched from side to side. There was something weirdly familiar about the display. I would have thought it was cute, if I wasn't so freaked out by the whole thing.

"What the hell are you?" I yelled. The critter shrieked and hid completely, obviously frightened. I began to feel a little sorry for it. "I mean," I tried again, "Where am I?" Off my rocker, that's where I was. I knew I shouldn't have let my roommate rope me into watching those dumb shows. Now I had drifted off and was having hallucinations of talking animals and ships filled with boxes. My arm chose that moment to give a sharp sting, as if it was trying to remind me that it was still injured, and still awake. I sat up and put my hand over the improvised bandage.

The creature, who looked more like some kind of tiny deer than anything, popped it's head back around the corner of the doorway. "Hey," it said quietly. "What's the matter with you?"

"Cut myself," I answered without thinking. I stopped and shook my head. Obviously, I needed professional help if I was talking to an imaginary deer, who stood upright and could speak as clearly as I could.

To my surprise, and worry, the little thing crept slowly out from behind the doorway and toward me, it's eyes glued to the shirt around my arm. "I'm a doctor," it offered, still in a quiet voice. "I could help you."

"Uhm, no," I answered. Humoring my imagination by even talking to this thing was enough for me, I wasn't about to let it go any further.

"Chopper," a male voice sounded from further out of sight. "Did you find that crate yet? It's in the back by the others. And who're you talking to?"

I backed up even further. Chopper? Wasn't that the name of…

Aw, crap.

"No, no, no," I said, scooting along the floor until my shoulder ran into one of the boxes and I was unable to go any further, "This is not happening. I'm dreaming. I fell asleep in my chair and I'm dreaming. I'm not here, and neither are you." I pointed at the deer. Chopper. That simply wasn't possible.

Chopper looked at me, confused, and then behind him at the approaching figure. He seemed to be at a loss of what to do in this situation. I couldn't say I blamed him, honestly. What does one do with a crazy person?

I nearly fainted when a slim blonde man appeared at the doorway. He was holding a kitchen towel in his hand and his one visible eye moved from Chopper to where I was leaning against the box, the other eye completely covered by his bangs. "Not possible," I muttered under my breath. Then, a little louder, "Sanji?"

The young man lifted his eyebrow at me. "Sorry," he said politely. "I usually remember the faces of the beautiful ladies I'm acquainted with, but I don't believe we've met." His gaze took in my wild, elbow-length hair, thin torso and long jean-clad legs.

I fought down the urge to growl at him. I'm not dense, I know what I look like. I know I'm not hideous but I most definitely lack curves. Scrawny, most people would call me, and I don't disagree. "What's your problem?" I scowled. It made me uncomfortable, the way he was looking at me, and I instantly became defensive.

Sanji moved his eye away from me when Chopper tugged on his black pant leg. "Who is she?" the little deer asked, a bit braver with the tall man beside him.

"I'm not sure," Sanji answered thoughtfully. "A stow-away perhaps? From the last island? Whoever she is, she's of course welcome to stay."

"But," Chopper looked worried, "what if she's a bad guy?"

"Still here," I put in helpfully. The pain in my arm was irritating me beyond belief, not that the entire situation wasn't doing that all on it's own. "Not a bad guy. Just insane, apparently." The last part was more under my breath than directed at the two in front of me.

Sanji smiled at me warmly, which only managed to creep me out even further. "What?" I demanded.

"Why don't you let Chopper take care of that arm," Sanji suggested. "Then you can come up and meet the rest of the crew."

"No," I said firmly. "I want to go home." I had already had enough of this dream or hallucination or whatever I was currently suffering. And if meeting the rest of the crew was going to be as traumatizing as this pair, I would rather pass, thank you very much.

Sanji shrugged but continued to smile. "As I'm not sure where that might be," he started, "I suppose you'll have to take it up with our captain. Upstairs." His tone had changed into one that didn't allow for much argument, although his features stayed the same.

I thought about this for a moment. If it really was a dream, what would be the harm in going along with the madness until I woke up? If it wasn't… well, I figured I wouldn't care, seeing as I would then be safe in the nearest mental facility. "Fine," I answered, using my uninjured arm to push myself off the floor and ignoring the blonde man when he stepped forward to help me. "I'll talk to your captain, then I want to go home."

"Of course, my dear," Sanji agreed. He guided me out the door and down a short corridor to another room, this one feeling a little more comfortable owing to the cots on one side and desks on the other. Sanji pointed at a chair next to one of the desks, and I sat down gratefully. My hip was still throbbing from the fall.

I watched with caution as Chopper pulled a chair up beside me and opened a drawer, removing one small jar and a roll of old-fashioned bandaging. He motioned for me to give him my arm, and I complied without further resistance, completely fascinated at the way his little hooves seemed to open and close, allowing him to grip the jar. He unwrapped my ruined shirt and sighed.

"It's not a deep cut," he told me without looking up. "It'll be fine, once we put some salve on it."

I let him work, only wincing once or twice when he steadily applied the cream before wrapping my arm with the bandaging. It already didn't sting nearly as much. I was about to say thanks, as odd as it had been for a talking anthro-deer to be taking care of my injury, when Sanji spoke up from one of the cots.

"So," he said, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it in one fluid movement. "What's your name?"

I raised my gaze to him, managing to pull my attention away from Chopper. "My name?" I repeated. "It's…." Trying to answer such a simple question, my mind drew nothing but a dark blank. I stopped, frozen in horror as a cold realization seeped into my chest. "I don't remember."


	2. Chapter 2

Second chapter! A little shorter this time, though. Sorry.

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

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><p>Both Chopper and Sanji stared at me as I sat in the chair and delved further into my memory. Like most people, I was fairly certain I had a name. Now what was it? "I…don't remember," I said again, disbelieving. I hadn't hit my head in that fall, had I?<p>

Sanji and Chopper shared a look that I couldn't quite decipher, before Sanji spoke again. "That's okay, I'm sure it'll come back to you eventually. You do seem to have had quite a shock, after all." He took a drag from his cigarette. "Tell you what, when we go upstairs I'll make something hot for you to drink. That ought to help."

At another mention of the upper decks, I shook my head adamantly. Maybe, I thought, if I could crawl back up those boxes, I would be able to make it to the ceiling and come out through my living room floor. As I pictured this I began to giggle. I really was going bonkers.

"What's wrong?" Chopper jumped off the chair and away from me, brown eyes wide. "What's the matter with you?" It seemed that, after he had finished with my arm, he had gone right back to being afraid of me.

Sanji rolled his one visible eye at the deer and stood from the cot. "Come on," he said. "Let's go back to the kitchen. I'm sure Luffy'll be wanting his lunch soon." He stretched his arms before motioning to us to follow him.

I sat still, thinking hard. If I couldn't remember my name, which was frightening enough, I could at least try to dig up as much as I knew about these fictional characters to help me through this dream.

Luffy, the loony teenager with the straw hat, and the captain of this ship. Check. Chopper the deer-doctor, and Sanji the chef. The latter was also an excellent martial artist, despite his play-boy looks. Check.

I put my face in my hands and tried to ignore the madness of what I was doing. It didn't feel like a very big ship, so I had to assume this 'episode' was an earlier one. I was a little impressed with myself for being able to think rationally, despite the fact that none of this was rational to begin with, and continued the mental list.

With those three down, that left Nami the navigator, Ussop the cowardly sniper, Robin the eerily calm and deadly archeologist, and… I groaned out loud. The swordsman. Of all the people on this ship, he was probably the one I was least interested in running into. Taking into account the new information that Chopper was actually a doctor and Sanji was really as lecherous as he seemed on screen, I could just about bet Roronoa Zoro was as lethal as I remembered his character being. It was not a comforting thought. "Dammit."

Sanji was standing by the door with the deer when I finally raised my head, both of them looking at me expectantly. "Aren't you coming?"

"Do I have a choice?" I muttered, standing as slowly as I possibly could and moving toward the corridor, as if my shoes were made of lead instead of cheap fabric.

As I followed the two through a door at the end of the short hall and up a wooden ladder, I tried again to remember my name. How was it that I still knew everything about these people, still had a good grip on a form of cognitive process, and still couldn't remember my own name? I was beginning to panic again when we reached a set of stairs that led up to a square of light. Slightly familiar voices drifted down to where I had paused at the bottom and I turned my attention toward surviving my own imagination.

Chopper ran up the stairs and spilled through the horizontal door, out of my line of sight. Sanji followed at a slower pace. I crept up behind him, crouching low to keep most of me hidden until I could establish my surroundings a little better. It was just one room, with shelves of books on one side and a kitchen space on the other. A door was set into the wall to the right, firmly closed, and a long table with benches sat near the kitchen counters. There was a pole-type thing, too, the top of it in the shape of some grotesque sheep looking creature, coming right out of the middle of the floor.

The Going Merry. I was actually _inside_ the Going Merry.

I bit back another frustrated sound as all remaining doubt as to my current position was wiped from my mind.

But it was the table that was taking up most of my attention. Or rather, the people sitting at the table. Four pairs of curious eyes were staring at me as I rose slowly out of the trap door and into view. It was incredibly intimidating. I was about to back away down the stairs when Sanji reached down and took my elbow in a gentle but strong grip, successfully halting my retreat and pulling me into the room completely.

"This," he said, maintaining his hold so I couldn't escape, "is our new guest. Unfortunately the young lady doesn't seem to remember her name, or how she found her way onto the Merry, but-"

"Are you a mermaid?" the black-haired kid with a straw hat cut in. He was sitting on the bench with his entire body pointed at me, nearly bouncing in excitement. This must be Luffy.

"A- what?" I stammered. The hell was wrong with this boy? "Why would you think that?"

"Well," Luffy continued as though explaining simple logic to a child. "We're in the middle of the Grand Line, no one else could have made it all the way out here unless they could swim really fast. Or fly," His dark, irrepressible gaze roved over my shoulders, looking for, I assumed, something resembling wings.

This was getting ridiculous, and I was no closer to home than I had been when I found myself below the deck of a ship on a TV show. "Of course I can't fly," I said, more harshly than I had meant to. "And do I look like a mermaid to you?"

The captain with the straw hat laughed and turned away from me. "Don't know," he said. "Never seen one before." He looked to Sanji, who had left my side a few seconds before and was now standing in the kitchen area. "When's lunch?"

"And that's about as much of an attention span as our captain has," the orange-haired girl, Nami, directed her words to me with a wave. "Well, you don't look very dangerous," she assessed. "In fact, you look scared out of your mind. Why don't you come sit down, before you fall over?"

I hesitated for a moment, hovering between the two doors in the room. Coming to the conclusion that I couldn't escape very far on a ship anyway, I moved cautiously over to the bench nearest the doors, facing the wall. Sitting down beside the girl, I was finally able to start taking in the characteristics of the people around me. Nami was cute, in a wide-eyed way, carrot orange hair falling just short of her shoulders. She was looking at me with an unexpected sympathy as I sat at the table and shivered.

"You must be cold," she acknowledged. "We're in the Autumn waters, after all. Ussop," Nami cut her eyes toward the young man sitting across from her, "go down to the study and grab that blue blanket. The one hanging on the chair." She turned back to me with a smile. "Don't worry, we'll get you fixed up and then figure out what to do from there, okay?"

I was barely listening to her as I stared at Ussop. I couldn't help it. His nose was _long_, and his mouth wide. The bandana tied around his hair held most of the curls down but it still stuck out at an odd angle, and beneath his brown overalls he was wearing a lime green long-sleeved shirt. He scowled at Nami but got up anyway and moved around the table, disappearing through the trap door without a word.

"So, you don't remember your name?" The woman sitting beside Luffy looked at me with startling blue eyes framed by midnight hair. Her pale skin and flat nose gave her the look of a mythological goddess, but her eyes scared me. They were too knowing, too sharp.

"Robin," I vocally identified her without thinking, realizing my mistake a second too late.

Robin appeared taken aback for a moment, then smoothed her features out into a stoic mask again. "And yet, you apparently know mine." Her piercing eyes studied me with renewed interest.

"And mine," Sanji added as he came around the table and set a cup of dark, steaming liquid in front of me. I glared at it suspiciously and kept my hands in my lap. What if it was poisoned?

Sanji seemed to know what I was thinking and smiled. "Relax," he told me, "there's nothing wrong with it."

"I'll drink it!" Luffy piped from down the table, and stretched his arm out, and out, further than should've been humanly possible to grab the cup by it's handle and pull it away to stop in front of him, sloshing a bit over the sides.

"Luffy, stop!" Sanji ordered angrily. He grabbed the captain's wrist to keep him from downing the contents of the cup. "That's not for you!"

I couldn't help it. Although I had been almost expecting something like that, seeing it for myself was almost too much for my over-wrought mind to take in. I shrieked and fell back with enough force to throw me away from the bench, tumbling toward the floor at an frightening speed. Sanji and Luffy looked up and Nami made to move toward me, brown eyes widened in alarm.

"Hey-!"

I grabbed at the edge of the table but was too slow and my fingers missed by inches as I toppled off the bench, waiting for impact. A large, warm hand was between my shoulder blades before I knew it, preventing me from hitting the hard surface for the second time in an hour. Slowly, deliberately, I raised my eyes up, passed a white shirt and broad chest and into the tanned, scowling face of Roronoa Zoro.

Uh, oh.


	3. Chapter 3

Even shorter than the last one, but I'm working up to it.

Disclaimer: As always, I do not own One Piece or it's characters.

Warnings: Language and a hint of Zoro bashing.

Dont worry, I still love Zoro :P

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><p>I screamed even louder and threw my arms up to push the intimidating man away from me.<p>

Zoro dropped me, looking startled, and I really did crash into the floor. I smacked the cut on my arm against the floorboards but ignored the pain in favor of getting as far away as I could from the swordsman, scrambling across the room to the furthest corner.

With my back safely against the wall I scanned the area for something to use as a weapon, knowing the attempt was completely futile even as I did it. My fingers eventually closed around the handle of a mop and I pointed it at the confused looking man. "You just stay the hell away from me, you green-haired, sword-loving psycho!'

Zoro frowned again as Luffy laughed and Robin tried very hard not to follow suit. "Hey," he said, and the low rumble of his voice gave me unpleasant chills. "What's the matter with you?" He took a step closer and I made a very undignified sound, brandishing the mop clumsily. And for a damn good reason, too. Well, three actually.

When he had turned I was able to see the three katana hanging from leather loops at his hip, and I swallowed audibly. If he decided he didn't want me there, he could cut me into tiny pieces before I even had the chance to blink.

"Knock it off, Zoro!" Nami scolded from the table. "You're scaring her, you idiot!"

"Yeah," Chopper chimed in from where he was perched on a chair next to the bookshelves. "She's already freaked out enough! Don't go traumatizing her when she's already confused!" For someone who had been afraid of me not that long ago, the little deer was quick to jump to my defense.

"But I didn't do anything!" Zoro turned away from me to argue with the navigator, hands up in protest. "How am I scaring her?"

"It's probably your ugly mug," Sanji drawled. He had wrested the cup away from Luffy and was walking carefully toward me, holding it out in front of him like a peace offering. "It's okay," he said soothingly. "Here. Still warm." Sanji was doing an impressive job of ignoring Zoro's angry spluttering as he stopped in front of me, his smile just a little on the creepy side. "Drink it. It'll help."

Eyeing them both critically for a moment I eventually lowered the mop to take the cup and hold it gingerly, moving my focus back to Zoro. He was glaring at me now, taking in my appearance and defensive stance, his arms folded across his muscular chest. I considered throwing the cup at him and making a run for it, but decided that wouldn't help much either. He was fast, I knew, and I didn't stand a chance.

Sanji at least seemed a little less threatening, even while he was leering at me, and I relaxed marginally when he purposely placed himself between me and Zoro. I took a sip from the drink in my hand, my eyes never leaving the swordsman, and shivered again. The unknown beverage was surprisingly good. It had a taste that reminded me of a mix between tea and some kind of cider, and began warming my insides almost immediately.

"Here you go," Ussop emerged from the trap door with a folded blue blanket over one arm, "found it. And it wasn't in the study, it was in storage…" He trailed off, wary gaze going from me to Sanji to Zoro and back to me again. "What's going on?" he asked in a worried tone.

"The mermaid's afraid of Zoro!" Luffy cackled, bent over at the table with one hand on his hat to keep it from falling off.

"I am _not_ a mermaid!" I snapped at the same time Nami shouted, "She is _not_ a mermaid!"

"And I'm not afraid of him," I lied through my teeth. I cringed back and bumped against the wall when Zoro began to walk steadily toward me with his hands in his pockets. Sanji's shoulders tensed and he moved as if to stop the other man, halting again when Luffy spoke up from his seat on the bench.

"It's fine, Sanji," the captain wasn't laughing anymore, but I could practically feel his dark eyes dancing as he watched. "He wont hurt her. Get out of the way."

Sanji stepped away from me at his captain's orders and I nearly dropped the cup to grab his arm instead. "Wait!" I formed a death-grip on the mop and raised it again to point it at Zoro's chest as he came close enough to trap me in the corner. Zoro simply moved one hand up and knocked it aside without any apparent effort at all. He was incredibly strong.

"Not afraid of me, huh?" he rumbled. "Then why are you shaking?" Impossibly light green eyes pierced mine, and I went straight into an automatic defensive mode.

"Because I'm cold!" I shouted. "Now get away from me!" I dropped the mop and slammed my palm into his chest to push him back, but it was like hitting a brick wall. Zoro didn't even budge. I pulled the cup around to throw it in his face in a last ditch effort to make him leave. Zoro's hand shot out and wrapped around my wrist in a lightning fast move, effectively stopping me.

"Who are you?" he demanded, scowling again. "What are you doin' on our ship?"

"Ow!" I shrieked. Zoro's fingers were curling into the cut on my arm, and it stung like crazy. "Get off, dammit!" The returning pain was just another reminder that this was most likely not a dream, and I felt the panic rising into my throat again.

To my complete astonishment, Zoro quickly let go and took several backward steps away from me. He stopped in the middle of the room and shoved his hands back in his pockets, not looking my direction. "Jeez," he growled. "I save you from splitting your skull open on the floor, and this is the thanks I get?"

I opened my mouth to insult him again, from a safe distance this time, and stopped myself immediately. It was true, I thought. He did catch me. I was trying to think of something to say when Ussop walked up and wrapped the blanket around my shoulders, careful of the cup still clutched in my hand.

"There," he smiled. "Feel better?"

I knew he didn't mean just because of the blanket, and I nodded. I clutched the soft material closer and looked at Zoro again, almost accusingly.

"I didn't know you were hurt," the swordsman said, eyes still averted. He looked acutely uncomfortable. It was kind of funny.

I figured that the statement was the closest I was going to get to an apology and had just turned back to the sniper when the entire ship lurched wildly and I slammed into the wall, finally dropping the cup. "What the hell was that?" I squeaked.

Several plates fell from the counters and smashed across the wood with a deafening crash. Chopper flew from his seat and squealed. Nami stood up to brace herself against the table and Sanji appeared at her side in less than a second. The ship tossed again, sending me flying into Ussop, who caught my by the shoulders.

"Just hold on," Ussop advised as the Merry made another nasty dive. The abandoned table slid a few feet toward us and he pushed me into the corner, ignoring my yelp of pain to make sure I was out of harm's way.

"Sea Kings!" Zoro shouted over an ear-splitting roar coming from outside. He ran to the door and threw it open, disappearing onto the deck with Sanji and Luffy hot on his heels. Robin followed them, walking along as if she were going to look at a nice garden, or maybe a pond. I was surprised she wasn't whistling a lullaby as well.

I searched through my memory, trying to locate 'Sea King', and immediately wished I hadn't.

"_What?_"


	4. Chapter 4

This is probably the longest attention span I've ever had for a story like this. And I'll try not to be too mean to Zoro in future chapters =)

Disclaimer: One Piece is not mine

Warnings: Brief language and Sea Kings.

Enjoy.

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><p>After the four strongest crew members had left I stood in the corner, unable to move.<p>

_Sea_ _Kings_ , I thought frantically, _enormous aquatic beasts that pop out of the water randomly and attack without reason. Frequently sighted on the Grand Line._ The only part of my brain still able to process my surroundings was working furiously to make sense of the chaos. I couldn't feel Ussop's hand on my shoulder, although I knew it was there. I barely heard Nami's voice as she ran to the door and began barking orders. My heart was pounding so loudly in my ears I had become deaf to everything else.

_It's just a dream_, I chanted silently, not even believing it myself anymore. _Just a dream…_ Ussop shook my shoulder, hard, and I snapped out of the dazed stupor momentarily. "What?"

The young sniper was looking at me intently, black eyes surprisingly fierce. "Listen to me!" he shouted over the din. "Stay here, and keep your head down!" Then he followed Nami and Chopper out the door to, I supposed, whichever rigging or sail the navigator was directing him toward.

The ship bucked and creaked, and now the shouts of the crew were added to the barrage of sounds invading my head. Vaguely, I wondered if how they handled giant sea monsters was as entertaining as it had looked on screen, and found myself moving unsteadily toward the open door in a semi-conscious state. I was still holding onto the blanket like a lifeline. I walked out onto the deck and out beside the stairs, couldn't see much, and crept out a little further. Looking up, I immediately wished I hadn't.

"What are you doing? Get out of the way!"

This was nothing like the show, I decided. For one, it was cold, and very wet as spraying water cascaded over the edges of the deck, soaking everything in the area including myself. Also, the noise outside the cabin was so loud it was painful. And I had never, ever seen anything like the beast in front of me, huge and scaly and dark purple, with no discernable head or face. The real cincher, however, seemed to be the enormous tentacle diving straight toward me at a right angle.

In a defensive move Ussop would be very proud of, I froze and closed my eyes. _Just a dream_, I reminded myself. _Or maybe a nightmare. Either way, not real and I'm sure I'll wake up any second now-_

I heard another shout before being yanked backward, clear off my feet, and pulled into something hard at a frightening velocity. The impact knocked the air from my lungs and I gasped, curiosity and a sudden need for oxygen getting the better of me as I opened my eyes.

Again, the alien scene had to be broken down and sifted through piece by piece. The first thing I noticed was the blanket. It was laying on the deck beside a huge, splintering hole, and was now completely drenched in sea water. The tentacle that had done it's best to decapitate me shot away from the ship as Luffy's creepy, rubbery fist slammed into the monster and sent the entire thing crashing into the ocean.

Observing a little closer to home, I noticed two long and very sharp-looking blades inches from my face, crossed in front of me. Really, it would have been almost impossible _not _to notice the blades, or the third one shining dangerously in my peripheral above my shoulder.

And last was the fact that I was unable to move due to the muscular arms on either side of my person, and that the hard mass I was shoved into and now being crushed against was growling angrily in my ear.

"What the hell's the matter with you, girl?" His voice was muffled, but instantly recognizable. "Are you actually _trying_ to get killed?"

It was too much; everything I had experienced from landing on the floor of this wacky ship up until now crashed into my fragile mind and my knees buckled out from under me. My vision opted to take a break for awhile, and I happily went along with that plan. As I slipped into wonderful, unconscious bliss I was aware only that it was freezing, and the swordsman was still shouting something, gruff voice sounding a little worried now.

Let him be, I thought dreamily. I'd be gone home soon enough, and this would all have been nothing but a wild, scary, vivid imagination attack. Soon…

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><p>Warm? How did that happen? Soft, too. That's nice. Cozy. And…rocking.<p>

Damn it all, anyway!

My eyes shot open and I blinked at the sudden light, trying to shake my head to clear it from the hopes that I would find myself in my own house. I succeeded only in pulling my hair, and yelped in surprise. Or tried to, at least. What came out of my mouth was more of a pitiful gurgle than an exclamation of any kind.

"Oh good, you're awake."

I quickly closed my eyes. It was that freaky little deer again. The doctor. I heard him chuckle in relief.

"That's really good, actually," Chopper continued, oblivious to the fact that I was intentionally ignoring him. "Nami was furious when she came down from the upper deck. She thought Zoro had killed you."

"Felt like he did," I complained. There seemed to be no reason to feign sleep anymore. "What's he made of? Rocks?"

"No," an irritated and disturbingly familiar voice shot at me from out of my line of sight. "And you're welcome, by the way."

I froze in the act of pushing my mass of hair away from me and craned my neck around. Zoro was sitting in a chair on the other side of the small room next to the door, glaring daggers at me. His katana were leaned against the wall beside him. I frowned at the sight of them.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded in what I knew was a less than grateful tone. I couldn't hold it back. I still didn't trust the guy.

Zoro looked like he was getting ready for another argument when Nami swept through the door. Robin was close behind her.

"You're up," the younger of the two observed. "Excellent. We need to discuss a few things- What are you doing in here?" Nami had spotted the swordsman in the chair and shooed him out the door. "Go. Girl talk."

"How come your not telling Chopper to leave?" Zoro frowned.

"Chopper's a doctor," Nami reasoned in a superior tone. "He doesn't count."

Zoro turned his glare on her, picked up his katana, and stomped away, growling continuously under his breath. I caught the words 'women' and 'crazy' and scowled. Before I could think of a reply, Nami strode across the room and put her hand on my forehead.

"Hm," she said thoughtfully. "You don't have a fever, at least." She moved her hand to my hair. "Head's dry. You should be fine." She pulled away.

"I told you that already," Chopper grumbled. Nami ignored him.

"Your clothes are hanging in the study," the navigator continued, "and Luffy's on his way down here. Tell him where you want to go, he's already decided to take you there. Any place you choose, within a reasonable distance." She smiled at my dazed look.

"Eh?" I said oh so eloquently. "What?"

Robin stepped forward. "Maybe we should move a little more slowly," the dark haired woman suggested in a light tone, one hand on Nami's shoulder. "Start with the present, and work our way up from there."

I sat up and the blanket that had been covering me slid down to my waist. Giving my top half a once-over, I felt one eyebrow rise up of its own accord. "Who's shirt is this?" It certainly wasn't mine, as I doubted I would ever own a bright orange sweater with a hideous panda cross-stitched onto the front.

"Luffy's," Nami smiled. "None of our shirts would have fit you" she gestured to Robin and herself, "so I, eh, 'borrowed' one from our idiot captain. Sorry, he doesn't have a very big selection."

"It's fine," I said truthfully. It was warm and dry, and that was all that mattered. She was right, anyway. There wasn't a chance I could wear either of the women's shirts without having far too much room in the front. I lifted the blanket and peeked under it. Along with the sweater that deserved to be burned, I was dressed in soft black slacks and blue socks.

"Everything else fit, though," Nami grinned. "Your legs aren't as long as Robin's but you can roll the bottoms, if you want to."

Very uncomfortable with the idea of someone dressing me in my sleep I shot an accusing stare at the redhead, who pointed at the deer-doctor. I felt a little better after that. "So what's this about?" I asked. Might as well get it over with.

"You're name," Robin started immediately. "I have a theory, one that makes the most sense, as to why you don't seem to remember your name."

She now had my full attention. "Go on," I encouraged.

"You see," Robin said as she moved closer to where I sat on the cot, "when you appeared-"

"HERE!" a loud, excited voice reached us a split second before a straw hat with a hyper boy attached to it flew into the room like a rocket. He skidded to a halt inches away from Nami, who appeared to be just about that close to committing murder.

"Luffy!" Chopper scolded. "This is a sick bay! You can't come tearing in here like that!" But once again, the little deer was ignored.

"Hey mermaid," Luffy grinned at me, ignoring my attempt to correct him. He planted his fists on his hips proudly. "I've decided I'm not going to take you anywhere."

"What?" Nami and I snarled.

"Why?" Chopper and Robin asked.

Luffy just laughed. "Because," he tipped his chin to look at me from under the brim of his hat. "You're gonna stay with us."

A pregnant silence followed this statement, each of us gawking at the captain with expressions of disbelief, until I snapped out of my stupor enough to respond.

"_LIKE HELL I AM!_"

"Why do you even want her to stay, anyway?" Nami walked over and yanked hard on Luffy's cheek, making it stretch out in a grotesque manner. She let go and the captain snapped back up, his head whipping around.

"Nami, she's _a mermaid_," he whined. "It'd be so cool!"

"Dammit, I am not a mermaid!" I shouted. I had never wanted to strangle someone so much in my life. "And I want to go home!"

"And there lies the problem," Robin spoke up quietly from the end of the cot. "That's what I've come to tell you about." She was studying me with those piercing blue orbs, mouth pulled into a straight line.

I forgot about the annoying captain and focused on Robin instead. "What is it?"

"I've heard of dimensions crossing from time to time," the woman began again, "but only on rare and specific occasions. Judging by the fact that you appeared from nowhere, dressed in clothing unfamiliar to any of our seas and in complete shock, I would guess you are not even from this world. The reason you can't remember your name but know ours," Robin paused, gaze becoming sympathetic, "is because apparently, you are dead."

Dead? I didn't feel dead. I gave my unbandaged arm a hard pinch and winced. "No, I'm..." In a flash, the memory of the strange, tingly feeling I had experienced just before I colapsed in front of my chair came swarming to the front of my mind. "Crap."

I'm pretty sure I fainted again.


	5. Chapter 5

Warning! Lots of filler and nonesense ahead! Slowly working up the storyline, though.

Disclaimer: Seriously? Not mine.

Warnings: Same as the last chapters.

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><p>Soft, cool hands were on either side of my face, tapping my cheeks gently.<p>

"Wake up now, Miss," Robin's voice might as well have been coming from down a long tunnel. "I apologize. I didn't mean to give you such a shock."

"Well, what did you expect?" Nami quipped. "I'd bet I would have had just about the same reaction. Poor thing."

So, she's a _dead_ mermaid?" That was definitely Luffy.

Robin pulled her hands away and I opened my eyes slowly. Nami was holding Luffy by the throat and Robin and Chopper were studying me closely. I must have only been out for a few seconds, I realized. Rolling onto my side, I pushed myself up on one elbow and ran a hand over my face. "Buh," I said. "I don't know if I can handle much more of this."

Chopper had hopped up onto the cot and started dabbing at my forehead with a damp cloth. I didn't even try to stop him.

"You need to just relax," he soothed. "Like Robin said before, that theory hasn't been proven."

"She also said it's the one that makes the most sense," I reminded him. "And I think I'm beginning to agree. It's the only way… This is crazy." I flopped back down away from the deer. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Let's talk about your hair instead, then," Nami giggled.

I lifted my eyebrows at her. "My hair?" I repeated. "What's the matter with it?"

"You look like you've been through a hurricane," Robin explained.

Ah. That.

"Nope," I closed my eyes. "Just through a floor, off a table, and yanked around by a crazy guy with really long knives. Nothing special." I could hear the biting sarcasm in my own voice and winced. They were only trying to help, after all. But I didn't think there was anything any of them could do about me being dead. If that was what had really happened.

"Haha, she's funny," Luffy laughed. I heard a loud thump and could just about picture Nami whacking him on the back of his head.

"Can I have a word with you, _Captain_?" Nami hissed. "_Upstairs_?" I opened my eyes and watched as she grabbed Luffy by the collar and dragged him out of the room with the boy still protesting loudly.

Robin chuckled at his means of departure and turned to Chopper. "Excuse me, Doctor," she said politely. "Do you have a bit of yarn I could use?"

"Oh," Chopper hopped off the cot and tip-toed to the desk. "Sure." He returned with a length of red yarn and handed it to Robin. "What for?"

Robin just smiled. "You'll see."

And we did see. A few minutes later I was sitting on the end of the cot with Robin behind me, several pairs of hands untangling the knots in my hair before weaving it into a manageable braid. It was a really weird sensation, I thought, trying to ignore the arms sprouting from my shoulders. I could still see the bases of them if I turned my head. The sight gave me goose bumps, and effectively kept me still as she worked.

Robin tied the yarn around the end of the braid to hold it in place and stood up again. The extra hands vanished in a faint pink glare. "There," she smiled. "Better?"

I reached back and ran one hand over my hair experimentally. "Yeah. Thanks." My stomach chose that moment to give a low rumble. I placed my hand against it to try to stop it. "Uhm…"

"You were out for quite a few hours," Robin smiled again. "You missed dinner, so I'm not surprised you're hungry. Come on," she gestured for me to follow her. "Let's see if our Mr. Cook can find something for you to eat."

I returned the smile, really starting to like the black haired woman. She was…nice. I nodded in agreement, stood from the cot and tripped on the too-long bottoms of my borrowed slacks. Stumbling forward several steps, I tried to catch myself on the polished wood of the doorframe. It didn't work, and I fell forward into the hall with my arms outstretched in front of me. The other woman gave another low chuckle from inside the room and I changed my mind. Robin was evil.

"…The hell are you doin'?"

Of all the people… I put my forehead against the floor and sighed. "Stretching," I replied dryly. "I thought Nami told you to get lost."

"The bastard cook wants ya in the kitchen," Zoro took a step toward me and I was nose-to-toe with a pair of ugly green boots. "You can stretch later."

I rolled over and pushed myself up into a sitting position, scooting away from him. The man had no sense of personal space, I thought sourly. Probably from being stuck on a ship with a bunch of other people for so long. I ignored Zoro in favor of folding the bottoms of my pant legs enough so I could at least walk, and got to my feet. "Whatever." Ooh, nice one, my brain clapped sarcastically.

Zoro looked at my orange panda sweater and one dark eyebrow rose in question as he opened his mouth.

"Don't even," I stopped him.

"Fine," the swordsman shrugged and moved back. "Think you can make it all the way up the stairs without killing yourself?"

I shot him a dirty look and stomped away as Chopper and Robin joined us in the hall. "Yeah, I think I got it," I threw over my shoulder. "No need for physical contact of any kind, so just stay away from me."

"What?" Zoro shouted behind me, growling at my back. "You are the most stubborn, ungrateful little-"

"Zoro!" Chopper scolded in his high, light voice. "She's still in shock. Ease up, will you?"

My fear of the surly swordsman was dissipating quickly, especially in the presence of the others. That didn't mean I had to like him. I straightened my shoulders and climbed the stairs up to the kitchen, doing my best to ignore the green eyes boring holes into the back of my skull.

"Ah," Sanji greeted me with a dramatic wave. "How nice it is to see you on your feet again, my dear." He looked past me to Zoro and instantly frowned. "The barbarian hasn't been bothering you has he?" the blonde man asked.

"No," I replied. "It's fine." I walked to the bench when Sanji gestured to me to do so, and observed carefully as he carried several small plates from the counter to the table, laying them out in front of me.

"As I'm not sure what kind of dish a lady such as yourself would most enjoy," he explained, "I've taken the liberty of preparing a variety of cuisine in order to tantalize your undoubtedly exquisite taste."

I blinked at him. Had he always been so long winded? "Uhm, thank you." There was no way in hell I would be able to eat so much food in one sitting, but not wanting to hurt his feelings I picked up the spoon beside me and tried the closest dish. It appeared to be a fish and rice platter with some kind of citrus sauce, and it was delicious. "Wow, this is really good," I told him. Sanji beamed proudly.

Zoro snorted and sat down across from me, his frown seemed to be permanently glued to his forehead. "Don't give him too many compliments," he warned. "They go right to his head, and we'll never live it down."

"Shut up, you shitty swordsman," Sanji had gone directly back to angry and insulting, despite the fact that he was sliding a bowl of rice down the table to Zoro. "Quite complaining and eat, moron."

I looked from one to the other, spoon forgotten. "I thought Robin said you had already had dinner?"

"We did," Sanji nodded, "but the idiot was still down in the sick bay with you, so he missed out."

My eyes snapped to Zoro with a glower. What a creeper. "Why?"

"It's not like I wanted to be there," Zoro replied around a mouthful of seasoned rice. "Luffy told me to. Don't you remember?"

I was about to call him out on what I assumed was a cover-up when something started bouncing around in the back of my mind, vying for attention.

A loud shout, an order, just before the swordsman had pulled me away from the Sea King's tentacle. I set my spoon down on the table and tried to dig up what I had forgotten. At the time and in my dazed state, I had thought the voice was Zoro's, telling me to move. I had been wrong.

"_Zoro, keep her safe!"_

Luffy.

And he had done it. Despite the fact that he didn't like me, even thought I was an intruder of some kind, Zoro had followed his captain's orders to the letter. Still was, I realized as the green haired terror finished his meal in silence. He was watching me, making sure I didn't get hurt, and all because Luffy had told him to do it. I had heard of this particular pirate's unbending loyalty but hadn't ever given it any credit until now.

The moment Sanji turned away I slid one of the dishes over to Zoro, deciding on the spot to at least attempt to be nice to both the stretchy captain and his strange, stoic sidekick. Well, nice-_er_, anyway.


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, not a whole lot to say about this one. A little longer than the others. And I'm finally giving my character a temporary name :)

Disclaimer: Still belongs to Oda as far as I know...

Warnings: Language

Special thanks to **RunAway Rose** for continued support and the name idea. This one's for you, darling!

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><p>My new resolution lasted less than an hour.<p>

The cabin was filling with a glowing red light as the sun finally began to set behind me. I had been here for nearly a full day. As I finished off my second plate and nodded my thanks to Sanji again, Luffy came bounding through the cabin door like the embodiment of energy itself. Nami and Ussop were behind him.

"Where's Robin?" Nami asked as Luffy grabbed the two remaining plates and slid the contents down his throat without pausing.

"Luffy!" Sanji snapped. "You bottomless pit! You just had dinner!"

"But I was hungry," the captain turned pleading eyes on his cook. "And you never make this kind of stuff for us, anyway. Is it mermaid food?"

Sanji began roaring about the stupidity of the very idea but stopped when I shook my head from behind Luffy. Just let the kid think whatever is easiest, I reasoned silently.

The blonde cook sighed and set two cups of tea on the table, one for me and the other for Nami, who had sat herself next to Zoro. Ussop came around to my other side and lowered himself to the bench. "So?"

"I think she's still downstairs," I answered when Zoro remained silent. "With the doctor."

"Ah, well," Nami shrugged. "We'll tell her later."

"Tell her what?" Zoro asked. He had finished his meal and now climbed down from the bench to sit with his back against the wall, arms folded behind his head. He looked a lot less intimidating that way.

"We've decided we should give you a name," Nami smiled at me. "Can't just call you 'girl' forever, you know."

"Why not?" Zoro sneered. The navigator ignored him.

"I wont be here forever," I pointed out, glaring at the bit of green hair just visible over the table top. "This isn't my world. I have to go back."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Nami folded her arms on the table and leaned toward me. "Where are you even from?" She stared me down with steady brown eyes.

I looked away. "I don't remember." And I didn't. For the life of me, I couldn't remember the name of my city, or where it was, or what it was even like. I covered my face with my hands, beginning to realize that the longer I stayed here, the more I forgot who I was. If this went on much longer I wouldn't even know I wasn't part of this crazy world.

"Then," Luffy put in, "why can't you just stay here with us?"

I lowered my hands and frowned at him. "Are you kidding?" I said. "I would never survive this place. I've already been knocked around and almost eviscerated by that huge beast thing. I'm not strong enough to stay here." Didn't he understand that?

Luffy turned his body on the bench toward me and frowned back. "What's the problem?" he asked. "You're dead anyway."

"Luffy!" Nami and Sanji both scolded him immediately.

"We don't know that," Nami continued, "and even if she is, she can still get hurt."

"A lot," Zoro put in.

"The point is," Sanji glowered at the swordsman before his one visible eye returned to the captain, "if she wants to go home, we should be trying to help her get there."

"It's not possible," Robin said from behind us. She emerged from the stairwell with Chopper. "This ship is versatile, but it can't cross through dimensions." She gave me a considering glance. "I'm sorry, but if you want to return to your home, you'll have to get there on your own."

"Arg!" I put my forehead on the table and covered my face with my arms. "How the hell am I supposed to do that?" A sudden thought occurred, and I popped back up. "Wait. I fell into that storage room. Maybe if I can get to the ceiling-"

"Checked," Zoro interrupted. "Nothing there but wood."

"Do you have to be so infuriating?" I snapped. "Can't you at least let me think I'm on to something?"

"What would be the point of that?" the swordsman glared back at me. "Just a waste of time."

"What the swordsman is trying to say," Robin answered calmly as I started to stand from the bench, "is that instead of dwelling on one idea, perhaps you should be thinking of several, therefore broadening your chances of returning." She sat down next to Nami and smiled at Sanji when he handed a cup of steaming tea to her with a bow.

I flopped back down with a huff. "I don't know what to think," I admitted. "I don't know how I ended up here, so there's nothing to even go on."

"Then it looks like you'll be staying with us for awhile anyway," Ussop smiled at me. "Really, its not that bad. A little scary sometimes, but we've all managed to survive so far."

"And since you'll be with us indefinitely," Nami said, "that brings us back to the name thing." She grinned. "Now, we've had a few ideas but we wanted to run them by you to see what you think."

"I was thinking Hisa," Ussop nodded. "It means 'enduring'."

I wasn't sure whether or not to be flattered, but shook my head regardless. "No, I'm not really-"

"What about Midori?" Luffy piped up.

"That means 'green'," Nami told him. "Why that one?"

I shot a glance at Zoro. "Definitely no," I said.

"Mari?" Zoro thought out loud. He had noticed the look I had given him and frowned.

"She is not bitter!" Chopper scowled in my defense. "How about Suki?"

"Doesn't that mean 'likeable'?" Zoro scoffed. "Tora."

"'Tiger'?" the sniper laughed. "You guys still having problems?" Neither of us answered him.

"Do you like Jin?" Nami asked me. "It means 'gold'."

There was a collective groan from the table. Nami looked around innocently. "What?"

"Renna," Robin spoke up quietly. "It's meaning is 'reborn'. Quite fitting, don't you think?"

"Renna," I repeated. "Not bad, I guess." What I really wanted was to remember my own name, but I didn't say this out loud.

"Well then, Renna," Ussop stood from the bench. "Do you want to go out on the deck? The sun's setting, but it's a pretty nice evening."

"Eh," I hesitated. My last experience on the deck hadn't been a very pleasant one. "I'm not sure…"

"Come on," Nami coaxed. "It'll be fine. No Sea Kings."

I stared down at my untouched tea. If I stayed near the door, and close to Luffy, I could probably make myself take a quick look. But nothing more than that. "Alright," I agreed after a moment, "just for a second. Uhm, Luffy?"

The captain knew what I wanted before it was even asked and hopped up from his seat. "Sure," he grinned. "No problem." He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the cabin without another word.

"Whoa!" I shouted. "Slow down!" It was no use. The real difficulty in dealing with Luffy, I thought as the rubbery boy dragged me across the deck to the mast, is that once he got something in his head, he was set on full speed. No stops. No middle ground.

Luffy stopped abruptly beside the mast and put my hand against the rough wood. He beamed at me. "There," he said. "Now you have something to hold on to so you don't fall over."

I lifted my eyebrows. Well, that was unexpectedly considerate of him, I thought.

"You fall over a lot," Luffy added. I retracted my earlier inner compliment.

"Yeah, well," I grumbled. "I'm not used to being on a ship. That's all." I turned away but kept my hand on the mast. It had been a good idea, after all. The deck of the Merry was just as I remembered it, except now it was bathed in a soft red light, the shadows from the opposite railings stretched long over the ship. It was kind of a relaxing sight, to be honest.

"I told you it was nice out," Ussop walked over to us with Zoro. "Not a lot of breeze, beautiful sunset," he sighed. I was surprised by such a romantic thought coming from the awkward sniper. Then Ussop tilted his chin and looked up. "You want a better view?" he asked me.

I followed his gaze to the crow's nest at the top of the mast and quickly shook my head. "No, that's alright. I'm not really comfortable with heights to begin with, and it might be safer for me to keep both feet on the- What are you doing?" my explanation ended in an undignified shriek as Zoro strode forward and picked me up, throwing me over one broad shoulder.

"Breaking you of these ridiculous fears," the monster replied as he jumped into the mast's riggings and began to climb higher. "You gotta get over them at some point. It's getting annoying."

"Put me down, you Neanderthal!" I pounded my fists into the small of his back, but he didn't even seem to notice. "This is completely- Aagh! Where do you get off just hauling me away like that? You've got some nerve, pal! Don't you have any manners? What's the matter with you?"

"Jeez," Zoro sighed when I paused to take a breath. "You complain a lot, you know that?"

"Luffy!" I shouted down to the captain. "Do something!" A faint cackling reached me, and I couldn't help but feel a little betrayed. My hands tightened on the white shirt underneath them as the deck grew smaller and smaller.

"Relax," Zoro growled. "I'm not gonna throw you overboard. Just calm down."

"Calm down?" I squeaked. "Do you know how high up we are right now?"

"Yes," Zoro sighed again. He reached up with one hand and opened the trap door of the crow's nest, lifting me from his shoulder and shoving me through the square opening. I scrambled away until my back was against the solid wood rail and watched cautiously as the swordsman pulled himself up after me and closed the door.

I glared up at him from the floor, my heart pounding wildly. "What the hell's gotten into you?" I demanded. "I've half a mind to-"

"Be quiet," Zoro cut in, "and stand up."

"Why?"

"Just do it," he said in an exasperated tone.

I got slowly to my feet, keeping visible tabs on the nutcase's movements as I did so. "Now what?"

Zoro tilted his chin toward the direction of the bow. "Look."

I didn't want to, but curiosity made me turn my head. I gasped. The water stretched out around us for miles, farther than I could see, and gentle waves glowed brightly as the sunset sparked against them, making the entire ocean look like it was on fire. Despite that, the scene was breathtakingly beautiful. I moved to the railing unconsciously and gripped the edge. "Amazing," I murmured.

"The Grand Line is dangerous," Zoro said from behind me, " and can be more fast-paced than someone might like. But it's also pretty much the most interesting place in the world."

"What do you mean?" I asked as he moved up to stand beside me. I chanced a look at him, surprised to note the absence of the creases on his forehead and around his stern mouth. He seemed much more relaxed than I had seen him so far.

"Just keep watching," Zoro answered.

I turned my eyes back to the shining ocean, scanning the surrounding water. "I don't see- Oh!"

And there they were, dozens of them out in the distance, An entire pod of gargantuan white dolphins. Their backs rose out of the water, shooting mist hundreds of feet in the air, before sliding back under with what I could only describe as an unearthly grace. They moved steadily across the horizon in a fluid motion that was simply hypnotizing.

"Wow," I said with feeling. Then I noticed the waves coming toward us. "Uhm, should we be worried?"

"No," Zoro responded, and he definitely didn't sound worried. "The waves are too far out, they'll be practically nothing by the time they reach us."

I'm not sure why I believed him but I did. I had just started to ask another question about the huge mammals when Nami's annoyed shout could be heard from the deck and Zoro turned away from the view to yell back down to her.

"What do you want?"

"Idiot!" Nami hollered. "What were you thinking? Renna can't stand up there without a jacket, she'll get sick!"

Zoro cut a sideways glance at me before responding. "She's got that god awful sweater on, she's fine."

"Hey," I protested. The sweater was starting to grow on me. I shifted over to the other side of the crow's nest to peer down over the edge. Nami stood on the deck, a pale pink jacked dangling from one hand. "And like all hell am I wearing pink," I muttered.

Zoro chuckled at that and I jumped away from him, alarmed. The sound was startlingly foreign.

"Well, what do you expect me to do about it?" he asked, looking back down at the navigator.

"Come down here and get it, you lazy excuse for a pirate!" Nami seethed. "And don't argue, or I'll jack up the interest you owe me again!"

I giggled behind my hand and Zoro frowned. He opened the door and lowered himself through it.

"Wait," I took a step toward him. "Where are you going?" Having the swordsman up there with me was better than being alone in such a high and unprotected place.

"I'll be right back," he told me. "Just, try not to fall over the edge or anything." He disappeared through the opening.

"Ass!" I yelled down at him. What a jerk. "It's your fault I'm up here in the first place!" I turned away and crossed my arms over my chest, attention returning to the incredible scenery around me. It was really amazing.

I was so wrapped up in the beauty of it, I didn't notice the threat sweeping closer until something hooked in the fabric of my sweater and yanked me right out of the crow's nest. "What the hell?"

I was suddenly airborne with no idea how I had ended up that way. Raising both hands to my shoulders I grabbed on to the things digging painfully into my upper arms. They were cold and scaly, and my heart stopped with a forceful thud. I raised my stunned gaze, taking in the glossy black feathers, and the movement of wings swishing on either side of my dangling form. I was in the middle of being carried off by a giant bird, and found that I wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea.

"_You've got to be kidding me!_"


	7. Chapter 7

Wow, this story is getting a lot longer than I had originally planned for it to be. Oh, well. Also, I hope the little action bit (not THAT kind of action you perverts ;) ) makes some kind of sense. I'm still practicing writing scenes like that.

Disclaimer: Oda owns

Warnings: Language

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><p>I struggle with the claws of the bird, trying to pry it's talons open enough to escape. Luckily, the sharp points were wrapped in Luffy's panda sweater instead of in my skin. That seemed to be the least of my worries at the moment I realized, looking down. Even if I managed to get away now, I was so far up the fall would probably kill me.<p>

_What's the problem?_ Luffy's voice echoed in my mind. _You're dead anyway_.

That's right, I thought with a numbing clarity. What did it matter if this thing dropped me? With a new resolve I latched on to one of the claws and pulled as hard as I could, digging my fingernails in for good measure. I heard a satisfying cracking sound. The bird let out a loud squawk and released my sweater and I reflexively grabbed it's leg to keep from falling completely.

An arm shot past me from below and slammed into the bird's head, just as the rest of the Straw Hat captain appeared in the air beside me. "Luffy-" I started, and gasped involuntarily. The boy's face was contorted, brow drawn down and the brim of his hat shadowing his eyes. His thin lips were pulled back over suddenly pointed teeth and he looked more like a demon now than anything. A really, really _pissed_ demon.

"_Get your hands off my mermaid!_" Luffy snarled, and through the cloud of shock and fear my inner mind rolled its eyes.

I reached for the captain. The bird squawked again and bobbed, throwing me high enough to dig its talons into the side of my sweater. The orange fabric ripped away and tightened around my neck. "Luffy!" I choked.

Luffy grabbed the bird around the neck with his legs and swung down, one hand going to either side of my collar. He tore the sweater in half and pulled it away from me, letting the two halves drop to the sea. He then whipped us both higher and kicked one leg up before bringing it down like a hammer on the back of the bird's head.

The giant bird flapped away in irritation, finally conceding defeat. Luffy reached down and wrapped one stretchy arm around my middle several times over, the other swinging back before shooting toward the ship far below us. All of this happened in about two seconds flat and I didn't even have enough time to protest as we rocketed toward the Merry with a frightening speed. We were going too fast to survive the impact, and I closed my eyes and curled into Luffy's chest so I didn't have to watch myself being splattered across the deck.

When we were just above the ship Luffy let go of the railing and cradled the back of my head with his newly returned hand, flipping us over in mid-air. We hit with a deafening crash and rolled on impact, the captain's arms around me like a cage. Luffy fetched up against the mast and we finally stopped bouncing. He let go and sat up.

I lay on my back for a long moment, trying to figure out why I was still alive and not even in any kind of pain. I looked over at Luffy and it hit me: rubber. The kid's body was made of rubber, it must have absorbed almost all of the shock when we landed. That was why it had been so much less painful to land on Luffy than it had been to slam into Zoro.

"Hey, you okay?" Luffy asked, brushing dirt from his straw hat before replacing it.

I was going to inquire just how the hell he had managed to hang onto that thing when my stomach gave a horrible lurch and I was hit with a dizzying wave of nausea. I pushed off from the ground, headed toward the railing, and stumbled again as my weak knees gave out. I wasn't going to make it…

Arms were around me out of nowhere and I found myself being half-carried, half-dragged to the edge of the ship. I made it just in time to lean over and empty the contents of my stomach into the ocean. Pulling away, I leaned down to rest my forehead against the wood, struggling to stay upright and breath at the same time. The mystery hands were patting my back gently and holding my elbow to lend some support.

"There now." It was Ussop. "Took you for a turn, did it? You're safe here." He gingerly patted my shoulder again. "No need to worry. And lets get you covered up before Nami throws another fit."

I looked down at myself to try to figure out what that meant and blushed furiously. With the sweater gone I was standing around with nothing covering my top half besides my plain white bra. "Shit!" I exclaimed. No wonder it was so much colder all of the sudden. I raised my arms to cover myself and was temporarily blinded by soft fabric being pulled over my head.

"Dammit," Zoro muttered, yanking the shirt down so I could see. "Sorry about that. I didn't know that bastard turkey was so close or I wouldn't have taken you up there." He backed away. "Luffy's gonna kill me."

I glared daggers at Zoro. "You- you crazy son of a-" I pulled my arms through the short sleeves to swing at him in anger. "You almost got me eaten, jackass!"

Zoro caught my wrist easily. "I said I was sorry," he glared right back.

I growled at him and noticed something missing about the swordsman. Lowering my gaze I hastily yanked my hand from his grip. "Where the hell is your shirt?" I demanded. He was standing in front of me half-naked and I could see the long diagonal scar that crossed from his left shoulder down to his right hip. There were a few other scars too, although much smaller than the first. I kind of wanted to poke one, to see if it was as bumpy as it looked, but I really wanted to punch him in the face even more.

Zoro gave me a quizzical look. "You are the weirdest girl ever," he said. "You're wearing it, genius."

I quickly gave the shirt another more careful inspection. He was right. Snatching up the hem in both hands I began to pull it up, trying to remove the offensive material.

Ussop reached over and grabbed my arms to stop me. "Oookaayy," he stressed. "Let's just leave our clothes on, alright?"

I was about to tell him that I would rather wear a shirt made of poison ivy, but I swooned at another dizzy spell and fell back into the sniper. "I don't feel right," I complained. "I need to lay down."

Zoro took a step toward me. "Don't faint," he ordered.

My head snapped back up and I was instantly annoyed. "Don't tell me what to do!"

Ussop gave a low whistle. "Okay," he said again, "let's just go inside, then."

My legs were still shaky and I wasn't sure if I could walk far just yet. The only reason I was still on my feet was because of Ussop. I didn't have very long to wonder how I was going to make it back to the safety of the cabin however, as just then Luffy walked over to us and picked me up, carrying me to the door bridal style.

"Don't worry mermaid," he gave me a lop-sided grin. "You're not gonna get eaten, kay?"

I laid may head on his shoulder and had to concentrate on not throwing up on him. He opened the door while still holding me and I heard Sanji gasp out loud, dropping a plate to the floor.

"Renna! What happened?" the cook demanded, vivid blue eye focusing on Luffy.

"Well," Luffy started, "she was up in the crow's nest, and an actual crow grabbed her and took off. I got her back, though. Kicked that crow's ass, too." I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Hm, I did hear some kind of crash," Robin acknowledged. "Is she hurt?"

"No," I mumbled. "I'm fine." I raised my head enough to look over at Sanji. "But I wasted your food. Sorry."

Sanji, who had been looking worried, visibly relaxed with a smile. "It's no big deal," he told me. "I can make more, when you're ready."

I nodded at him and craned my neck around when I noticed Chopper jumping up at me.

"Put her down," the little deer commanded. "Let me take a look at her."

Luffy knelt and set me more gently than I had expected on the floor of the cabin. Chopper darted forward and studied me with concern. "Are you hurt anywhere? How's your vision?

"I'm fine," I said again. "Just dizzy. And a little tired."

Chopper frowned suddenly. "Who's shirt is this?" he asked. "It smells familiar."

"Mine," Zoro answered from the doorway. He stepped in and closed the door behind him.

"Luffy had to rip the sweater I was wearing," I explained, feeling the strong pull of fatigue at the corners of my mind. "The bird had it." I tipped back in exhaustion and felt Luffy's rubbery arm snake around my shoulders to hold me up. I closed my eyes, and didn't hear the response.

* * *

><p>A loud, angry shouting woke me. I hadn't even realized I had been asleep. Dragging my eyelids apart I notice that the scene in the cabin had changed somewhat.<p>

I was still on the floor with Luffy behind me, holding me up. Sanji was back at the kitchen counter and was turned away from everyone as he fiddled with a kettle. Robin and Chopper were sitting at the table with Ussop. I wasn't sure when the sniper had come back inside from the deck. Zoro was standing in the middle of the cabin with his arms folded across his chest while Nami was planted in front of him. He was still shirtless, and she was furious.

"I go back inside for _two minutes_," the redhead fumed, "and you let _a bird carry her off? _What the hell is the matter with you, Zoro?"

"I think you're a little confused," Zoro responded through clenched teeth. "It's more like _I_ leave _her_ alone for two minutes, and something happens. How's it my fault she attracts so much trouble?"

"You were supposed to be keeping an eye on her!" Nami stomped her foot irritably.

"Don't forget I only left her up there because _you_ told me to!" Zoro shot back. "It wouldn't have ever happened if you weren't so damned meddling!"

Nami reared back and punched Zoro square in the jaw. He fell backward with an angry shout and landed hard on the floor.

"Watch it, you little witch!" Zoro snarled.

I stared. Zoro could have easily dodged, or even blocked, that punch. Why hadn't he?

Nami threw her hands up in the air with a frustrated sigh. "You're lucky Luffy was around," she said as she walked to the table and sat down next to Ussop.

"Whatever," Zoro got up off the floor and went to the other side to throw himself on the seat beside Robin. "I could've brought her back, anyway."

That was enough of that, I decided. "I'm right here you know," I spoke up angrily. "And I was actually doing alright for myself, before Luffy got there. Right?" I looked up at the captain.

"Yep," Luffy grinned again. "We'll make a pirate out of you yet, haha."

"I wouldn't go that far," I mumbled. Although, on second thought being a pirate was probably preferable to being a mermaid.

"You're awake," Sanji turned from the kitchen counter with a tray of cups on one hand. "That's good."

"As if I could've sleep through that," I gestured at the table.

Luffy snickered. "Here," he said, and helped my stand shakily from the floor. I wobbled over to the table and eased myself to the bench beside Zoro. I would have preferred the one by Nami, but Luffy had beaten me to it. It was incredibly uncomfortable, seeing as the swordsman still wasn't wearing any kind of shirt, and I scooted to the very end of the bench.

"We'll have to find you something better to wear, my dear," Sanji noted as he set yet another cup of tea in front of me. "You're practically swimming in that thing."

I stared down at the cup. What was this stuff to him, I wondered, some kind of cure-all?

"He just doesn't like the fact that you're wearing _Zoro's_ shirt," Chopper put in helpfully from the end of the table.

"Chopper!" Sanji looked appalled.

"Well, it's true," Chopper shrugged.

Sanji straightened his tie importantly. "I just happen to think that a lady should be dressed accordingly," he explained in an unconvincing tone, "not forced to wear such plebian rags."

"But the panda sweater was okay?" I muttered under my breath.

Zoro snorted. He seemed to be the only one who had heard me. The comment had also effectively stopped him from starting another fight with the cook. Brushing it off, I picked up the cup and sampled the tea. Mint-y. The warm liquid pooled in my stomach and spread through my body. I yawned.

Zoro turned his head my direction. "You look like death," he said bluntly. "Go to bed."

"Bite me," I replied in a falsely sweet voice.

He turned away again and scowled. "Whatever."

* * *

><p>AN: Yeah I know, kind of an awkward place to end a chapter. It was just getting too long, and I had to split it up.


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry about the crappy content of this one, had to fight off a nasty headache to get it done. Hopefully its not too disappointing, though. The next one should be a little more interesting.

Disclaimer: Not mine

Warnings: Language.

* * *

><p>I woke up very suddenly from a dream about monsters and falling, sitting straight in bed and breathing harshly. Opening my eyes I realized I still couldn't see, and began to panic even more. Soft footsteps somewhere close by, and a light flickered before growing into a warm yellow glow. I was back in the sick bay. And I wasn't alone.<p>

Zoro straightened up from where he had been lighting the old kerosene lamp and for the first time I was _almost _glad to see him. I was actually very glad to see that he had found another shirt from somewhere, a dark blue button-down, and was once again fully dressed.

He didn't look at me, but poured a glass of water and brought it over to the corner where I was sitting on the stiff cot. "Here."

I scooted back a bit to lean against the wall and took the glass from him a little cautiously. "How…?"

"You fell asleep at the table," Zoro explained. "I told you to go to bed, didn't I?" He turned away and walked over to the cot on the other side of the narrow room.

"Didn't think I was that tired," I muttered. I took a drink, shaking off the last lingering traces of the disturbing dream. Zoro's t-shirt was sticking to me in odd places and I picked at it absentmindedly.

"You're over-estimating your abilities," Zoro had jumped up onto the narrow cot and was sitting with his back to the wall and his long legs hanging over the side. His three katana were next to him. "Fear is exhausting." He didn't sound mocking, but I bristled at the comment anyway.

"If I wasn't trapped on a ship with a bunch of insane, reckless, _rude_, perverted-"

"Take a breath," Zoro frowned. "Jeez, we know not everyone is used to our lifestyle, and I'm not saying its your fault." His frown deepened. "And who're you calling perverted?"

"Keep it down, you two," a high, sleepy voice grumbled. "I'm trying to sleep over here."

I tore my attention away from the irritated swordsman and finally notice the doctor, laying under a wad of blankets on a cot at the foot of my own. Chopper's head poked out from his covers and he glared at each of us in turn before pulling them back up again.

"Sorry," I apologized quietly. I reached over and set the glass on the small table next to the head of my cot. My gaze flicked to Zoro. He had his arms folded behind his head again and was turned away from me, still frowning.

I was too tired to continue the argument, and lay down with my back to him. There was something bothering me about my surroundings. It took me a moment to realize it was an unfamiliar scent. I sniffed the pillow. Nope, that wasn't it. The blanket was next. Not that either. I raised my head and looked down toward Chopper. He was too far away to be the cause. What the hell was it?

"What are you doing?" Zoro rumbled.

"Nothing," I replied shortly. Then it came to me. I lifted the collar of the white shirt and inhaled. Bingo. That was what I had been smelling all evening, a faint blend of sea air and metal, and something distinctly 'man'. It was the swordsman. My tired brain then wondered if all of the residents of this ship smelled like the things with which they were most associated. For instance, did Luffy smell like rubber or food? I couldn't remember. What about Nami? Like tangerines and paper?

Short of walking around with my nose pressed to their clothing, I figured I probably wasn't going to find out and eventually settled back down on the cot. It didn't take long until I was asleep again, although the nightmare never visited a second time.

* * *

><p>When I woke the following morning it was to the sound of shouting. Again. And the noises from the kitchen were nearly deafening, even from all the way downstairs. Really, couldn't these people take a break for once?<p>

This time, it was the cook. "Luffy, hold still so I can _bludgeon you to death!_"

This order was followed by a series of what sounded suspiciously like breaking china and a bout of loud cackling. I pushed my head under my pillow to block it out.

Something poked at my ribs, and I swatted it away. Whatever it was returned and jabbed again, a little harder.

"Get up."

Of course it was the monster. "Go. Away," I grumbled.

"Come on," Zoro sounded frustrated. "You can't stay in bed all day, you know."

"Watch me." I knew I was being ridiculous, but I really didn't want to face another day of crazy people and the risk of being eaten every time I stepped outside.

I heard the unmistakable sound of metal being drawn from a sheath and immediately scrambled off the cot. That was my intention, anyway. What actually happened was that the blanket I had been using wrapped around my legs and I _fell off _the cot, landing ungracefully on my hands. My still injured arm was not impressed by this, and it told me so by shooting a dull ache up to my shoulder.

I whipped around to look at the swordsman. "What the hell are you doing?" I squeaked.

Zoro replaced his katana. "Well, that did it," he smirked down at me.

"You are _unbelievable_," I hissed. "Seriously, there is something wrong with you." I kicked the blankets away from me and stood up, attempting to smooth my wild hair, which at some point had come loose again, all the while trying to ignore the infuriating man next to me. "And just when you were beginning to act like a decent human being, too."

"Yeah, yeah," Zoro rolled his eyes with a long-suffering sigh. "Chopper told me to get you to eat something, then he's gonna change that bandage. Come on." He left the room without looking behind him.

Figuring he would just come back if I tried to fall asleep again, I grudgingly followed.

* * *

><p>It was late afternoon by the time they made me go outside again.<p>

I had spent the morning in the kitchen with Sanji, listening to Ussop's tall tales and Chopper's encouragements while Nami had managed to tame my hair back down to a reasonable state. It had been, dare I say it, fun. The sniper had quite the imagination, and no one begrudged him a little attention for it. Zoro had stayed in the corner with his mouth closed the entire time. Chopper switched out the bandage on my arm, the cut looking better despite all of the abuse it had been suffering.

After lunch Robin had taken me down to the study. There were masses of books, scrolls and sea charts to look through, and the time passed quickly. This was a little more my pace. I asked about some of the places they had been to so far, although Robin herself couldn't answer for all of them. She did however show me charts of Reverse Mountain, Little Garden, and Alabasta.

At the last name, Zoro raised his head from where he had been sleeping on the cushioned bench. "Thought you knew all this stuff?" he said. "That's what Nami told me, anyway." He had been sticking close by after being yelled at for the bird incident, and was now like a constant, frowning shadow in my peripheral.

"It's not the same," I answered. "Just hearing about it and then seeing these books, its…completely different. These are so much more informative." I had almost forgotten who I was talking to, until Zoro spoke again.

"Books are books. Don't know why you two spend all this time reading, when there's a lot more you can learn by actually _doing_."

I stared at him, then turned to Robin. "Can I trade him in?"

"Hey!" Zoro sat up as Robin smiled good naturedly. "There's nothing wrong with the way I do things, got it?"

"Of course," I agreed sarcastically. "I'm sure the cave man method is still very popular in some parts of the world."

"Alright, you two," Nami came down the stairs before Zoro could say anything else. "Cut it out. Renna, did you want to come up to the deck? Luffy's asked if you'll do some fishing with him, since you've been inside all day."

I didn't even have to think about it. "No, thanks," I shook my head. "I'd rather keep my daily danger count to a minimum."

"Don't be such a chicken," Zoro taunted. I threw a small pillow at his head, but missed. "Besides," he said, "a little sun ought to do you some good. You look like a damn ghost."

"What do you care what I look like?" I frowned at him.

Zoro propped himself on the pillow I had thrown at him. "I don't," he answered lazily. "But I'm tired of being inside."

"Then go out on the deck," I said. "I don't care."

"I can't," the swordsman looked slightly pained to even admit it, "not without you. Luffy said-"

"Yes, I know," I cut in impatiently. "But what's the big deal? Robin's in here, anyway." For all her calm outward appearance, I knew the dark haired woman was quite powerful, and could protect me almost as well as the swordsman.

"There's no point," Nami told me sagely. "Once our captain gets an idea in his head, it's all over. Not even Zoro can change his mind. You might as well just accept it." She gave me an encouraging smile. "It'll be fine."

"That's what you said last time," I reminded her, "right before an over-grown parakeet tried to _eat me_. Remember?"

Nami had the grace to look sheepish. "Yeah, well," she shrugged. "This time will be different."

"How?" I asked.

"I won't leave you alone again," Zoro said. "Happy?"

I glowered at him. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"For Luffy?" Robin tried. "He has taken quite a liking to you, after all. It might be nice to spend a little of your time with him. For all our sakes," she added.

I had to admit, I could see her point. The captain had been very accommodating, despite the fact that I had appeared out of nowhere and was now staying on his ship without lifting a finger. The least I could do was be nice to him. I ran a hand over my face. "Fine," I said, then turned to Zoro. "And if something else almost eats me, I'm going to have a lot to say to you, pal."

Zoro stood up from the bench and stretched. "As if you'd ever run out of things to say," he huffed.

I followed Nami up the stairs and to the door of the cabin, my unwilling babysitter/bodyguard right behind me.


	9. Chapter 9

Short! Short! Sorry! But a nice little tid-bit at the end as an apology =)

Disclaimer: I do not own

Warnings: Not many in this one

Reviews appreciated!

* * *

><p>I was going to take it more slowly this time. Creeping to the door, I pushed it open just far enough to see through the crack. The sun was bright, the waves calm, and not a trace of any monsters to be had. I opened the door a little further.<p>

"Would you hurry up?" A hand planted itself in my back and I stumbled out onto the deck. So much for taking it slow.

"I was getting there," I snapped as Zoro walked out behind me. "You are so impatient." The swordsman ignored my irritation and walked past me down the stairs as Nami and Robin followed us. I edged along the wall of the cabin and peeked around the corner, not trusting the calm surroundings. That kind of thinking had landed me in danger just the day before, and I wasn't about to take any risks.

"The coast is clear," Nami called from the bottom of the stairs. "You can come down now."

"I don't want to," I answered under my breath, sounding a lot more petulant than I had meant to, really. I kept to the railing and made my way cautiously down to where Luffy was sitting cross-legged on the edge of the ship, a long stick in one hand and a drink in the other. He turned as I walked unsteadily toward him.

"Hey mermaid," he said by way of greeting. "Wanna fish?"

"Do I want _a_ fish, or do I want _to_ fish?" I asked him. He simply shrugged and turned back to his line.

I sat down on the deck next to him. It was quite a bit warmer than it had been, and despite the fact that I was still wearing Zoro's shirt, something that seemed to greatly annoy the cook, I wasn't cold.

"Hey."

Speak of the devil… "What?" I turned to look at Zoro, who was leaning up against the mast with his arms folded.

"Would it be so bad?" he asked seriously. "Staying with us?"

Well, that was certainly unexpected. Especially coming from him. "What do you mean?"

"He means you could stay," Luffy looked down at me with a smile. "We'd keep you safe, and eventually you'd get stronger all on your own." His grin widened. "Doesn't that sound like fun?"

I really wanted to say 'no' right away, but the hopeful look on the captain's face stopped me. He meant well, I knew. "I can't, Luffy," I said after a moment. "I don't belong here."

"You keep saying that," Luffy appeared thoughtful. "But where else would you belong? You don't know where you came from, so you must be from here, right?"

"Luffy-logic," Zoro explained when I arched an eyebrow in question.

"It makes sense," Luffy defended. "Why don't you stay?" He looked very close to pouting now.

"I have to go home," I told him again. "Just as soon as I figure out how. My family, they…" I trailed off, trying to remember their names, or what they looked like, or…anything at all. I realized I couldn't, and covered my face with both hands. "Dammit. I don't remember."

I heard someone walking along the deck toward us but didn't look up. I wasn't in the mood.

"Renna?" Nami asked before falling silent. Apparently I must have had a rain cloud above my head, because the navigator left shortly after that without another word.

"So," Luffy said after a long pause. "Do you wanna fish or not?"

I took a deep breath before standing and moving closer to the rail. Luffy smiled and handed an extra pole over to me. Fishing, I decided, sounded like a reasonable past time at the moment.

"By the way Zoro," Luffy shot the swordsman a confused look. "What did you send Nami away for? I was gonna ask her to grab a refill from Sanji." He waved the empty glass in front of him.

I turned my attention to the other man as well. That was a good question.

Zoro glanced from me to Luffy before answering. "Never mind. Just catch something already, would you? I'm starving." He pulled a small bottle from his back pocket and sat down against the mast.

He didn't look at me again for a long time.

* * *

><p>Two hours later we hauled in our prizes for the afternoon. Luffy had caught two tiny fish and something that looked suspiciously like an old glove, and I had managed to hook three decent fish. Ussop, who had joined us shortly after I had begun, was carrying a string of five healthy-looking morsels. We now had enough for a good meal, bar Luffy, and so far nothing had tried to kill us. All in all, not a bad day.<p>

I sat at the table with Robin, Nami, Zoro and Chopper while Sanji was busy at the counter, listening to the friendly chatter and thinking about what Luffy had said earlier. I knew he just couldn't believe that I didn't want to stay with them, and really it was not anything personal. On most accounts. But I had a life in my own world, I knew I did, and I couldn't simply walk away from it like it was nothing. But I still didn't know how I was going to get back, either.

The issue never resurfaced for the rest of the evening, for which I was grateful.

After dinner, Nami bullied Luffy into running on the bicycle-powered water pump so I could rinse off, and Ussop had unearthed another shirt from somewhere. This one was a small green button-down, one of his own, which had shrank somewhat in the last washing. I couldn't help but notice that Sanji was ridiculously happy about this.

I went to bed later that night, still wondering about my predicament, and didn't even protest when Zoro stretched out on the cot across from me and Chopper took the one from the previous night.

Later, I would go over my options again, and try to find a way back home. It was starting to seem impossible.

* * *

><p>The next morning I woke more abruptly than normal, owing to the small, furry ball of energy landing on my back and hopping around in an overly-excited manner. This resulted in me nearly choking on my pillow.<p>

"Hoffer, fomph," I tried, attempting to roll the deer off of me.

"Come on! Get up!" Chopper bounced away to yank on Zoro's arm before shooting out the door. "Let's go to the island!"

I looked over at the stirring swordsman. "Fmpddhejsnay?" I asked, which translated roughly into 'What did he just say?'

Zoro sat up and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Guess they found an island," he said. "Looks like we'll be landing soon."

An island? I had only just become accustomed to this ship and its wacky inhabitants, I didn't think I was ready for an entire island.

I promptly stuck my face back into the pillow.


	10. Chapter 10

A little longer, and very Zoro-centric. In fact this whole story is more Zoro-centric than I had expected it to be, and my regular muses are starting to feel a bit jealous. They'll just have to wait a little longer for me to get rid of him, though.

Disclaimer: Obviously not mine.

Warnings: Language and high tempers.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>"If you don't get your ass up here by the time I'm done tying my boots, I am gonna <em>carry you off this ship!<em>"

"_No!_"

Zoro gave a very loud sigh and began angrily stomping down the stairs toward me.

"Alright, fine!" I stood from the cot and met him in the hallway. "You don't have to be so bossy," I told him as he stopped in front of me, arms folded.

"You don't have to be so damned stubborn!" he retorted.

I looked away. "I don't want to go," I mumbled.

"Why not?"

"Because it freaks me out, okay?" I said, glaring at him again. "Can't I just stay with the ship?"

'No," Zoro answered immediately. "I have to go ashore, and so do you." He sighed again. "You'll be with me the whole time, anyway. What are you so afraid of?"

We had spent the better part of that morning arguing over the significance of my presence on the island, but the irritable swordsman still refused to see my side of it.

"Oh, I don't know," I said in the most sarcastic tone I could muster. "Monsters, zombies, other pirates. The list goes on."

"Zombies?" Zoro looked at me, confused. "The hell kinda books were you reading?"

"That's not the point!" I snapped.

"What could possibly be scarier than me?" he asked snidely, having finally had enough.

I looked at him. "Good point," I admitted. "But still not _the_ point."

"So what's _the_ point?"

"I don't want to go," I said, and planted my feet firmly on the floor. Zoro gave me a creepy stare. I frowned at him. "You wouldn't dare- Hey!" Apparently he would dare, as he had moved forward and thrown me over his shoulder again before I could say another word. "This is really not the most comfortable way to travel," I informed him as he moved through the study toward the stairs.

"Quit whining," Zoro rumbled. "And watch your head."

He carried me like a sack of grain all the way through the cabin and down the stairs of the deck to where everyone but Ussop was waiting to go ashore. I wanted to give him a good pinch, but doubted he would even feel it.

"Didn't want to come along, did she?" Robin chuckled. Luffy snickered next to her, and Nami giggled behind her hand.

"No," I growled. "I wanted to stay with Ussop. And put me down, you green ape!"

Zoro set me on my feet and backed away, grinning. His expression was one of sheer gloating and I silently hoped Nami would punch him again soon, so I didn't have to hurt myself trying.

"Everybody ready?" Luffy asked, then hopped down the ladder to the rowboat without bothering to wait for an answer. Nami and Sanji followed more slowly, with Chopper riding on Sanji's back and the navigator toting some sort of burlap sack. I glared suspiciously at the rope ladder as Robin descended next.

"It doesn't bite," Zoro scoffed.

"You don't know that," I sniped back at him. "It looks…wiggly. Why don't you go down first?"

"Nice try," Zoro tilted his chin at me. "Soon as I'm out of sight, you'll be hiding in the cabin again."

Damn, when did that maniac learn how to read me? I gritted my teeth together and stepped gingerly up over the rail to put my foot on the first rung, surprised when Zoro grabbed my free arm to give me balance. I was glad I had been able to wear my jeans today, as Robins slacks would have surely caused me to trip and fall. I nearly did anyway and was forced to clutch at the swordsman's arm for support.

"Just keep going," Zoro advised. "Haven't you ever climbed down a ladder before?"

"Not one like this," I looked down at the small boat to see five pairs of eyes watching me curiously. Zoro let go, and after what seemed like forever I finally made it far enough for Sanji to reach up and guide me the rest of the way.

I sat down on the bench next to Robin with a huff. I was definitely not an athletic person, by any stretch of the imagination.

"Well, that was good for your first time," Nami said in what I assumed she thought was an encouraging tone. The fact that she was trying not to laugh thoroughly killed that notion.

"Thanks," I deadpanned.

"Can we go now?" Luffy asked, bouncing on the bench beside Nami, who had to hold on to the side of the small boat. Her burlap sack swayed dangerously with the motion of it.

"Luffy, knock it off!" she scowled. "Are you trying to tip us over, you idiot?"

"Yes, yes," Sanji answered the captain patiently. He grabbed an oar from the bottom of the boat and handed the other to the swordsman as Zoro dropped in beside me. "We're ready."

_Kind of_, I thought. But there was no way out, and I gritted my teeth as the two men began rowing us in toward the beach.

Within minutes we were on the shore, and Zoro jumped out of the rowboat to pull it the rest of the way onto the sand. He tied it to a rock, to make sure the tide didn't carry it off I supposed, and stood up. We clambered out, some of us a little less gracefully than others, and reassembled on the beach.

"Right!" Luffy crowed. "Time to go exploring!" He scampered away with Chopper in tow, the two of them disappearing into the trees at the other end of the narrow strip of sand.

"We are here to find food!" Nami yelled after him. "Wait! Luffy- and he's gone." She shook her head and sighed. "Whatever. I guess as long as he comes back before sunset, what do I care?" She turned to Sanji and Zoro instead. "Okay, here's the plan. With our rubber-brained captain entertaining himself this shouldn't take too long." She went quickly through the set up, and I was not surprised, and not entirely thrilled, to find out I would be stuck with the swordsman. Again. Go figure.

"Can't I go with Sanji?" I pleaded. "Just this once?"

"Yeah," the cook chipped in. "Can't Renna come with me?" He waggled his curly eyebrow in my direction, and I grimaced. Maybe that wasn't the best suggestion.

"Or Robin?" I added.

"No," Nami shook her head. "I need Sanji to carry my measuring equipment, and I'm sure Robin will be off doing her own exploring, am I right?"

"I'm going with Nami!" Sanji shouted gleefully. He picked up the sack and followed the two women up into the tree line.

"Does that man have a split-personality disorder?" I wondered aloud.

"I'm sure he has a lot of disorders," Zoro nodded. "Especially when it comes to women. Come on, let's get this over with." He walked up to the trees a little further down the beach, and I had to struggle to keep up with his long strides.

We walked through the trees for about an hour, Zoro stopping every once in awhile to inspect something, before I finally decide to say what I had been thinking for a while.

"You know," I started, stepping over a rock in the path, "You've been awfully nice lately. Well for you, that is," I amended.

"Oh yeah?" Zoro didn't look up from where he was crouched, studying the side of a tree. "How's that?"

"Like the night before last," I continued. "When I had that nightmare. You were nice."

"So?" He stood up and walked a few feet down the trail, pausing again to look over a small purple mushroom.

"So, why did you do that?" I asked. "And you probably shouldn't touch that thing," I added as the swordsman bent down to poke at the fungus. "I'd bet its poisonous."

Zoro straightened and walked off again and I followed close behind him. He stopped in front of another tree and frowned at it, as if expecting it to produce something edible from out of nowhere.

"And yesterday," I hopped over a branch to join him. "When I couldn't remember my family and you sent Nami away. Why?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Why did you help me down the ladder without laughing?" I challenged. "I know you wanted to, admit it. And why did you take me up to the crow's nest to see the dolphins?"

Zoro dropped the pretense of looking for food and turned to face me. "Why are you asking all these questions out of the blue?" he frowned. "What's it to you?" He spun on his heel to stomp off again but I quickly moved in front of him, blocking his path.

"Just answer the questions," I said firmly. "Why are you helping me when you don't need to?"

Zoro moved closer, and I immediately took a step away from him. "Why are you still afraid of me?" he rumbled.

I didn't know what to say to that. Was I still afraid? Or was my reaction more out of habit at this juncture? Before I could respond, Zoro shook his head and stepped around me, continuing along the trail without looking back.

"There's your answer," he threw over his shoulder.

Well that was terribly cryptic, I thought sourly. After a short pause I ran to catch up with him.

"What the hell do you think I am, anyway?" Zoro asked when I stumbled up to his side.

What kind of question was that? "You're a swordsman," I answered immediately.

He stopped again and turned to face me. "Is that all?"

I frowned. "A pirate?" Apparently this was not the correct response, as Zoro stalked away angrily. "What do you want me to say?" I shouted in frustration.

Before I could blink he was back in front of me, angrier than I had seen him so far. "Say what you're thinking!" he bellowed. "I'm a _monster_! A blood-thirsty, soulless demon! You're afraid I'm going to stab you in your sleep, because I have no morals! Say it!"

"You're definitely insane!" I snarled back at him. "You're impulsive, annoying and rude to boot. You fly off the handle at every little thing and argue over _anything_. You fight with Sanji, Nami, Luffy, me, and whoever else happens to be in your line of vision at the time and you have the most _obnoxious _habit of _constantly _sneering, _just like now!_" I took a long breath, trying to slow my heart rate back to a normal speed. "But a soulless demon? No, I don't think that, Zoro."

The swordsman paused in the act of rubbing one hand over his face. "What did you say?"

I glowered at him without the previous anger. Surely he had heard me? "I said you're not a demon."

"You called me Zoro."

"That's your name, isn't it?" I couldn't understand why he looked so surprised.

"You've never called me that before," he shrugged, still looking slightly discombobulated.

I rolled my eyes at him, although I realized it was true even as he said it. "You're such a baby."

"Watch it!" he barked.

"Come on," I sighed. I wasn't about to admit that I was relieved to see him back to normal again. "Let's go find the others."

"Oh, there's no need for that," Nami stepped out from behind a nearby tree, Sanji and Luffy behind her. "We could hear you two shouting at each other from the other side of the island." She gave a wide, sudden grin. "Hopefully you've got that worked out of your systems, for everyone else's sake."

Luffy was looking from me to Zoro with a questioning gaze. "So, are you two gonna kiss now?" he asked.

"_What?" _I squeaked, shuddering at the thought. Zoro looked like he had choked on a lemon.

"I'm guessing that's a 'no', Luffy," Nami giggled. "Jeez, you guys are so weird. Well, let's get back to the ship. Robin managed to find enough food for awhile, _without_ your help," She gave the rest of us a stern frown and sauntered off in the direction of the shoreline.

Zoro and I glanced at each other quickly before following her.

* * *

><p>AN: Haha, poor Zoro. I would have thrown me overboard loooong before now! The man has the patience of a saint. Probably from having to deal with Luffy for so long, hehe.


	11. Chapter 11

Finally the last chapter. It's meant to be kind of abrupt, not trying to confuse anyone. Sequel idea is still up in the air at this point. Feedback appreciated!

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece

Warnings: Brief Language.

* * *

><p>We walked together through the forest of the island's trees and back toward the beach. It was nearly lunchtime by now, and I knew this because the captain made it a point to remind Sanji every few seconds of the fact that he hadn't eaten in over two hours.<p>

"Do I look like I have any food on me?" Sanji snapped after the fifth time this happened. "You'll just have to wait until we get back to the ship, alright?"

Luffy gave him a wide-eyed look, complete with a pitiful whimper, and I had to try very hard not to laugh at him. I did laugh when Zoro offered to give him one of the purple mushrooms and received a well-deserved clobbering from Nami.

"Don't touch those, you morons!" she shouted. "I would just bet they're poisonous."

"That's what I said," I told her. "For all the good it did, apparently."

Nami looked at me with pleading brown eyes as we reached the shoreline and spotted Robin and Chopper, standing on the other side of the narrow beach beside the rowboat and flanking a big pile of oddly shaped fruits. "Are you sure you don't just want to stay with us?" she asked. "I could use someone on my side some days, as Robin doesn't seem to care one way or the other."

"Yeah," I shrugged. "I'll think about it-"

"You will?" Luffy was nose-to-nose with me before I could finish my sentence. He had to tilt his chin down a little to look me in the eye, making the brim of his straw hat fall forward onto my head. "Are you serious? You're gonna stay?"

I had been thinking about it on the way into the forest with the swordsman, after coming to the conclusion that he wasn't quite as horrible as I had thought at first. I realized that Luffy had been right; if I couldn't remember who I was or where I was from, there didn't seem to be a lot of point trying so hard to search for a place that may or may not exist. Maybe I really was supposed to be in this world, after all.

Putting my hands on the captain's shoulders I pushed him back to a more comfortable distance. "I said I would _think _about it, Luffy," I reminded him. "I'm not going to stop looking, but for now staying with you seems to be fairly beneficial to my survival. Besides, you've kind of grown on me. Either that or I've already forgotten what normal people are actually like."

Luffy gave me the widest grin I had seen him wear yet, and bounded down to where the others had gathered around Robin's food source.

I moved to follow him, and froze at the edge of the tree line.

"Did you guys here that?" Luffy crowed. "The mermaid says she's gonna stay!" He turned back to me. "Hey," he called. "Come down here! Let's eat!"

I looked at his happy expression and the one mirrored by the doctor, at Nami and Robin's smiles and Sanji and Zoro's smirks. "I can't," I answered, frowning in confusion. "I can't move." And I couldn't. My feet seemed stuck to the earth, and I began to feel apprehensive as a tingling sensation started in the center of my chest.

Luffy's grin faded a bit. "What? Why not?"

"Renna? Are you okay?" Chopper was starting to look a little worried now.

"You're not gonna fall over again, are you?" Zoro asked. Despite his sarcastic words his brow was drawn down in concern.

The tingling began spreading, and I knew instinctively an without a doubt that I had seconds left with them. I opened my mouth to speak, to say goodbye, or to thank them, but I just couldn't. Distantly, I found myself wishing Ussop had come along. It was a shame I wouldn't be able to see him one last time. A serene sense of peace washed over me as the odd sensation reached my feet. I smiled.

"Sorry," I said, and fell backward as Luffy and Zoro began sprinting up the beach toward me.

* * *

><p>I remember only vague images of what happened next.<p>

I was on my living room floor, with two men in white uniform shirts looking down at me. They were saying something, but I couldn't understand them. Over the shoulder of one of the men I could see my roommate, her hand over her mouth and wispy blonde hair stuck to her cheeks. She was crying.

A sharp, lancing pain shot through my chest and I gasped for breath as something made of soft plastic was placed over my nose and mouth. My vision faded, and everything was in darkness again.

* * *

><p>The light was intense. Why the hell was it so bright?<p>

The smell was bad, too. A cross between floor polish and medicine. This was definitely not the ship's sick bay.

I took a deep breath and my chest gave a painful ache, as if I had been coughing harshly. I groaned in annoyance.

"You're awake?"

I opened my eyes at the sound of my roommate's voice and blinked through the sudden light. "Anna?" I asked. Turning my head I saw her sitting on a chair beside me. She appeared to be slightly more composed now. A quick look around told me we were in a hospital room. A woman in scrubs was on the other side of the room at a counter, her back to us.

Anna forced a small smile. "At least your not calling me Nami anymore," she sat back in the chair. "Must've been a pretty wild dream. You were thrashing around for awhile there."

A dream? Is that what it was? I frowned. "What happened? Why am I…?"

Anna pushed her hair behind one ear, grey eyes very serious. "I found you on the floor this morning," she explained. "You wouldn't wake up, so I called an ambulance." She dropped her gaze to the side of the bed. "They said your heart actually stopped, at one point."

"No wonder I feel like shit," I complained. I raised my arm to push my hair away from my neck, and discovered I was hooked to an IV. "Dammit."

"I called your parents," Anna continued. "They're coming down with your sisters. It's a pretty long drive, but they'll be here in an hour or so."

I wasn't really listening to her anymore. Staring up at the ceiling, I began to wonder if everything that had happened had in fact been nothing more than a dream created by my subconscious in a last-ditch effort to keep my brain functioning. I found the possibility surprisingly disappointing.

On a brighter note I finally remembered my name. How had I ever forgotten it?

"Hey," Anna caught my attention. She was frowning. "What happened to your arm?"

I looked down in confusion to where she was pointing, and saw a long, thin scar running down the inside of my forearm. "Don't know," I answered numbly, but my heart jumped at the sight of it. Not a dream, I thought, it couldn't have been. I put one hand over the scar and smiled. "Must've bumped it on something awhile ago," I said.

Anna studied me for a moment longer, then shrugged. "Anyway," she started. "They're going to keep you over night, just for observation. We'll go home tomorrow."

"That soon?" I raised my eyebrow at her.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Apparently the doctors can't find anything wrong with you. Nothing at all. You're completely healthy, apart from the fact that you almost died." She frowned again, turning her head away. "You're a mystery."

"Better than a mermaid, I guess," I mumbled.

Anna gave me a funny look. "What?"

"Nothing." I settled back on the pillow, still smiling. "Never mind."

* * *

><p>After assuring my frantic family that I was alright and letting my hysterical sisters spend the next few days in our apartment, Anna and I did our best to continue on like nothing had happened, mostly because I insisted that we do just that.<p>

When I was announced healthy enough to do so, I began exercising more than I ever had before. I walked to the local gym and back, taking the long way home on some occasions. It was strange, I thought, that before the 'incident' I had been living in my own little shell. Only my family and Anna had ever really made me comfortable. Now I made an effort to become more social, to put myself out there just a little more every day. That lasted an entire week. I took up bicycling, skating, baking, and anything else I could think of that might keep me occupied.

In the back of my mind I knew it was because I was lonely, despite the presence of Anna's everlasting energy. I missed them. All of them. In the span of a few days they had wound their way into my secure inner place and set up permanent residence.

Anna had pointed this out one day while we sat in a café near our apartment, watching the snow come down outside in large, fluttering flakes.

"You know," she had said, clutching her cup to warm her hands. "You're kind of different."

"You just figured that out?" I joked. I had a feeling I knew what she meant, but refused to admit it.

"No, I mean different than you were before," Anna had tipped her head to the side. "You've been acting funny, too."

"I'm fine," I had told her. "I've just decided to try new things, that's all."

"That's what I'm talking about. Since when do you exercise, anyway? You hate exercise." She had frowned at me thoughtfully. "And you've been a lot more calm lately, too."

"Is that so bad?" I had shrugged. "Besides, I was kind of a sissy, don't you think? I'm just trying to be a little stronger. Inside and out."

"I guess so," she had answered, obviously unconvinced with my reasoning.

She had kept quiet after that, but once in awhile I would catch her studying me out of the corner of her eye, always with a bemused expression.

A few months later I sat in my living room again, looking over Anna's collection of One Piece disks. I turned them over in my hands for a long time, tracing the animated faces of the people who had saved my life in more ways than one. I didn't remember them being animated. To me they had looked as real as anyone else, and it was confusing to think about it for too long.

I hadn't watched any of the disks since waking up in the hospital bed and made a split second decision to hold my own little marathon. It took several days and was nearly unbearable sometimes, but I had to know. In my mind the boy with the straw hat and his crew were more real, more alive, than anyone I had ever met.

Of course I never said any of this out loud. It was best to keep these things to myself, in case someone tried to commit me. I wasn't sure that I wouldn't deserve it, either.

* * *

><p>It had been close to a year since those days on the Merry and I was just starting to let it go at that point, content to file it away as a kind of warped and involuntary vacation of sorts.<p>

Announcing I was going for a walk to clear my head and waving to Anna, I left our apartment and headed down the street to a nearby park. It was nice out for being late fall, and I had opted for wearing a dark green sweater instead of my usual jacket. Anna hated that jacket, saying no one in their right mind would wear something with a big ugly panda head patch on the back of it. I was never offended by the comments, not being in my right mind to begin with.

I walked along the outside of the park in a kind of trance, watching a dark-haired boy in a red shirt playing with his friends near the trees.

I felt nothing. No warning whatsoever.

In a blinding flash of light I found myself on my back, eyes squeezed shut to block out the sudden brightness. I could feel grass underneath my fingers, sticking uncomfortably to the back of my sweater. I must have been dizzy, I realized, because the ground seemed to be rocking.

The light faded as quickly as it arrived and I released the breath I had been holding and opened my eyes cautiously.

This was not the park. The park did not have trees with trunks that massive. Or smooth… That was not a tree.

The fact was made even more blatantly obvious by the huge sails and ropes hanging high above the 'tree'. Another confusing bit of information was that while I was more than certain it had been late afternoon when I left for my walk, it was now completely dark. Tiny twinkling stars were visible just beyond the sails.

"Did you just…fall out of the mast?"

Now why did that voice sound so irritatingly familiar?

I tilted my head all the way back as a surly face appeared upside down above me. I momentarily forgot how to breath.

It was a man wearing something that looked like a long green robe that was open in the front, revealing a long line from shoulder to hip. His face, although scarred now and a little older looking, was instantly recognizable. He gazed down at me with one visible eye in obvious surprise. "What now?" he said. "Did you die again?"

I stared back at him for a long time before my voice decided to cooperate.

"Zoro?"

* * *

><p><strong>FIN<strong>


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